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Johannesburg - After a four-year break, Motorola has re-enterd South Africa with a fresh take on the smartphone.
At an event held in Johannesburg on Thursday night, Lenovo, who acquired the iconic mobile phone brand, announced that the trademark would be reintroduced in the form of the Moto Z device
The Moto Z finds itself in the phablet category with a 5.5 inch display, and the modular design of the device sets it apart from any other available on the market right now.
On paper, the specifications of the device don’t scream out that the Moto Z can knockout stiff competition from rivals.
Under the hood, the device houses a Snapdragon 820 processor, while recently released Android devices such as the Google Pixel and Xiaomi Mi 5S sport the Snapdragon 821.
READ: Motorola takes another shot at smartphone redemption
Lenovo boast that the device can last up to 24 hours.
However, the Moto Z features one of the smallest batteries among high-end smartphones with a 2600 mAh battery. One, though, needs to bear in mind that most larger-screen smartphones tend to feature battery sizes greater than 3800 mAh.
To its advantage in this regard, the Moto Z is one of the thinnest devices on the market with a thickness of just 5.2mm, it is also running a ‘vanilla-form’ of Android.
READ: Motorola phones making a comeback in SA this week
But here is where it gets interesting.
The Moto Z right now is offering four Moto Mods – similar to how LG introduced the G5’s “Friends.
Moto Z True Zoom attachment
With a magnetic strip on the back of the device, the Moto Z can add a JBL SoundBoost Speaker, Moto Insta-Share Projector, Incipio offGRID Power Pack and a True Zoom camera attachment from Swedish camera-manufacturer, Hasselblad.
The JBL SoundBoost Speaker for the Moto Z
Aside from the True Zoom attachment, the Moto Mods snap onto the back of the device without being too clunky.
Of course, the True Zoom is slightly larger than the other mods because of the larger camera lens.
The Moto Z has definitely come into the South African market aggressively, as evidence by extensive advertising across the country’s billboards, even prior to the announcement of the device.
However, with the launch of Google’s first own branded smartphone dubbed the 'Pixel', Apple's new iPhone 7 and strong competition from Chinese manufacturers; the Moto Z has challenges ahead.
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